Masurians
Subgroup of Lechitic peoples of northeastern Poland
The Masurians or Mazurs (Polish: Mazurzy; German: Masuren; Masurian: Mazurÿ), historically also known as Prussian Masurians (Polish: Mazurzy pruscy), are an ethnic group originating from the region of Masuria, within the modern-day Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland. They number around 5,000 to 15,000 people. In the 2011 Polish census, 1,376 individuals declared themselves to be Masurian as either a first or a secondary identification. Before World War II and its post-war expulsions, Masurians used to be a more numerous ethnic group found in the southern parts of East Prussia for centuries. Today, most Masurians live in what is now modern-day Germany and elsewhere.
Masurians are mostly descendants of colonists from Mazovia who moved north. Some research also indicate the admixture of the remains of the Old Prussians. These settlers moved during the State of the Teutonic Order and the Duchy of Prussia in the midst of the Protestant Reformation. They spoke the Masurian dialects. Since the mid-19th century, High German was increasingly used among Masurians as opposed to Low German used by most of East Prussia's German population.
The public source identifies “Masurians” as subgroup of Lechitic peoples of northeastern Poland. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Masurians, Subgroup and Lechitic.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1898438. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2011.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Masurians” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.